Gallery: October - A merciless month on the Mediterranean

4 November 2016

More than 4,200 people have died or gone missing so far in 2016 in the Mediterranean Sea. The year is not yet over, but it has now become the deadliest on record for migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean, trying to reach Europe. Here are some images taken in October aboard the MSF search and rescue boat Dignity I.

Photo: Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

In the month of October, a total of 1,926 people were welcomed aboard the Dignity I, MSF's rescue ship in the Mediterranean Sea. Here, a semi-rigid inflatable heads towards a boat in distress.

Photo: Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

On 3 October, MSF carried out a rescue with an Irish ship. People had been in the water for quite a while by the time we arrived, and some had swallowed fuel and seawater. A 34-year-old pregnant woman from Nigeria died after we failed to resuscitate her. In the midst of the busy rescue operation, there were also six bodies in the water that couldn't be recovered. A mother lost her two children after she found herself in the water and was unable to keep hold of them.

Photo: Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

The three boats with MSF teams onboard - Aquarius, Bourbon Argos and Dignity I - have rescued over 17,000 people so far this year, and in total around 333,000 people have made it to European shores. Each has a story of hardship: some are fleeing war, some are escaping discrimination, violence or persecution. Many who risk their lives on the Mediterranean route have also had a nightmarish stop in Libya where many suffer sexual violence and torture, and are held in detention.

Photo: Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

Here, a crew member holds on to a little boy after a rescue. A large number of the people we rescue are children. As they often sit with their mothers in the middle of the boat, if a crack appears they are in the most vulnerable position.

Photo: Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

Field coordinator Nicholas Papachrysostomou holding on to eight-year-old Nora from Nigeria.

Photo: Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

An MSF doctor caring for an unconscious man aboard the Dignity I.

Photo: Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

This young Somali boy was too shocked after his rescue to respond to our medical team.

Photo: Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

This visibly malnourished man from Somalia was rescued by the Dignity I in early October. He is seen here resting aboard the boat.